Thief caught on camera stealing iPhones at a store in Fresno
FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Fresno business is hoping for help in tracking down a thief who walked away with thousands of dollars in merchandise this week.
The showroom at TV Guyz is mostly filled with big electronics, like televisions and laptops -- all discounted after someone returned them to bigger stores like Best Buy. They've started selling phones lately, and a customer three days ago seemed interested in buying almost the entire inventory.
"We started negotiating about the prices. He kind of tried to lowball me," said Edgar Sandoval.
Sandoval had dealt with the man once before. He sold Sandoval a used phone a while back. But this time, he was going to buy four iPhones and some televisions.
He got three phones, but he didn't buy them.
"As soon as I walked to the back, he saw my brother-in-law was just right here waiting for me, so he just grabbed the phones and took off running," said Sandoval.
The store's surveillance camera shows exactly what Sandoval described. He says he knows it was a rookie move to even give the guy the opportunity to do this, but he's never had it happen before and he wanted to trust a customer.
"A lot of people we deal with are pretty nice people so most of the time I don't really have to worry about somebody robbing me."
Sandoval says his total losses are about $2,500 and he's now left with just one iPhone X. He reported the theft to police and he's hoping the surveillance video helps them track the guy down.
